


Glitch in the Cosmos

by Meloxique



Category: Dissidia: Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Video Game World, Choose Your Own Adventure, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Second Person, Reader-Insert, Who Will You Fall For, Win to Exit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-07-19
Packaged: 2019-11-04 20:53:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 2,914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17905436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meloxique/pseuds/Meloxique
Summary: One minute, you're doing your taxes. The next, you're surrounded by faces you thought belonged in video games telling you the only way home is to defeat Chaos, the god of discord.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m stealing the premise of Dissidia but I’m making some changes. Since this is my first CYOA, it’s not going to be overly complicated. Hopefully. Cloud, Squall and Noctis are definite love interests but I’ll add others if the writing takes me there. Feel free to suggest/request any.

Sometimes you think your roommate makes it her mission to keep you from doing anything productive by being one big Chinese cliche. There is always something that gets her out of doing chores, whether it is lighting incense sticks for her ancestors, rearranging furniture because ‘feng shui,’ or gathering her friends for an amateur game of mahjong. Today it is martial arts in the living room.

“You know,” Lulin says, changing stances, “you would be way more relaxed if you put your taxes down and practiced tai chi with me.” She breathes in deeply, then lets the air out as slowly as she can.

“They’re not my taxes,” you mutter.

“Oh.” She stops. “What are they then?”

“My finances in general.”

She makes a sound of disgust and returns to her stance.

With your bank account open on your laptop, you try to work the percentages out in your head. Twenty-five percent for rent and utilities, ten percent for savings, ten percent for Mum and Dad, five percent for student loans, five percent for groceries, five percent for a rainy day. 

Lulin shifts, the floorboards creak, and you sigh. “Isn’t tai chi a morning thing?”

“Not for me,” she chirps.

“Well—” you collect your things—“I’m gonna finish this up in my bed then.”

Lulin pouts as you walk down the hallway, away from her. 

“Party pooper,” you hear her complain before you close the bedroom door behind you. 

Lulin has nothing to worry about. Her parents own the apartment you both live in and they give her a weekly allowance that amounts to almost more than you make in a month at your job in the library. Hell, the ang pau they give you for Chinese New Year is worth more than your monthly salary. Sometimes Lulin accompanies her father to his office, sometimes she goes on holiday to a remote island her family has owned for four generations. All in a day’s work.

You spread your things out on the blanket before you but the desire to get your life together has fled. Instead, you turn on your nightlight—for lack of a better word—and lie back against your pillows to gaze at the stars it spins around your room and on your ceiling. It isn’t long before your eyelids are heavy.

 

Someone whispers your name. Opening your eyes doesn’t make much of a difference though; wherever you are is just as black.

“Oh, dear,” she says. It isn’t Lulin, that’s for sure. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

When you try to ask her where ‘here’ is, the words don’t come out.

“I am so sorry,” she continues in a tone that tells you your card has been declined. “There appears to have been a mistake.”

Still, you can’t speak. You can’t even move. Maybe it’s sleep paralysis.

“I will explain everything in person. Just follow the light.”

Oh, God, you were dying.

The surface beneath your cheek cuts your skin and you open your eyes with a wince. They burn from the wind and red dirt digs into your palms as you push yourself up to a sitting position. Around you is a broken structure. Beyond that, arid land, but you’re neither hot nor cold, just dry. You’re aware of your tongue and you shouldn’t be. Are you in hell?

The sound of crunching rock has you scooting back until you hit the wall behind you. Hell has cosplayers, you realise as a man walks past. His back is to you but you recognise the long silver hair and the longer silver sword from a game Lulin plays. You want to say his name is Stephanie. 

You scramble to your feet. Before you can call out to him, a hand closes over your mouth. The leather glove smothers your yelp of surprise.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the person says.

You pull away and swivel around but his appearance stops you from shouting at him. You know _this_ character’s name at least. Cloud. His costume is uncanny. His hair looks untouched by product but still sticks up every which way and his eyes are so blue they almost glow. His clothes look authentic; real leather instead of the usual shiny PVC.

“Are you all right?” he asks warily, uncomfortable under your gaze.

You shake yourself. “Fine. Nice cosplay.”

He raises an eyebrow.

You look over your shoulder but ‘Stephanie’ is gone. “Where are we?” you ask Cloud. “Please tell me I’m alive.”

“You’re alive,” he says, relaxing. He’s probably realised you’re not a threat to him and now just looks vaguely amused. “We’re in a mirror dimension. World B.”

“Excuse me?” Had you had too much to drink the night before and blacked out? You wouldn’t be surprised if Lulin had dragged you to a video game convention while you were half-asleep and now you were part of some role play.

“It’s the world Cosmos and Chaos use to rage their war.”

“If those are names, they mean nothing to me.”

“The goddess of harmony and the god of discord.”

“Am I dreaming?”

You cry out when he pinches you. His eyes sparkle at your astonished face. 

“Are you?” he says.

You shoot him a look, rubbing where he pinched.

“I’m Cloud.”

You play along and introduce yourself as well. “That’s my real name. I’m not dressed as anyone. Sorry.”

He frowns in confusion. “What world are you from?”

“Uh, Earth?”

He waits but you don’t elaborate. 

A beam of light breaks through the sky. You crane your neck and follow the line down to a building quite a distance away shaped like the tip of a sceptre, with giant jewels sitting at the top and intricate entablature roping around its body. A spray of light, like fireflies, blinks around its apex. You’ve never seen anything like it and you realise, with an enveloping sense of dread, that this isn’t a dream.

What do you do?

[Panic.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17905436/chapters/42361307#workskin)  
[Stick with Cloud.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17905436/chapters/42446345#workskin)  
[Explore on your own.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17905436/chapters/42542075)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Before you go, it would be helpful if you dropped a comment saying whether you’re for or against bad endings. Endings in which you die, basically. I don’t know whether to write them or not.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Panic.

“What is happening right now?” you say, turning away from Cloud. “I’m not supposed to be here. The voice said so herself!”

“Keep it down,” Cloud says. He looks around to see if you’ve attracted any unwanted attention but you remain the only two people in the vicinity.

“Don’t tell me what to do! Are you even real?” You stomp in front of him and tug his hair hard.

With a wince, Cloud snatches your wrist and pulls it away from his face. “Of course I’m real.”

“Then how are you so calm?” you snap. “We’re in a completely different world in the middle of nowhere and the only other person we saw would have probably skewered us!”

“Calm down,” he says forcefully. “He’s not the only one who can and will ‘skewer’ us if they get the chance.” He doesn’t seem familiar with the word but he still manages to sound angry while saying it and your heart rate spikes.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“We were called here to fight on Cosmos’ behalf. Chaos has warriors on his side as well.”

“Fight?” Your head starts to spin. “I’m not a warrior. How do you know for sure they want us to fight?”

“This isn’t my first time here. They usually wipe our memories but I guess that stops working after a while.” He looks down.

You tense as you think of something and grab Cloud’s sleeve before you can stop yourself. “Can we die here?”

Cloud looks past you. His face hardens and he pushes you behind him without responding. He brandishes his sword, the blade singing through the air, and you stumble back as you catch sight of the creature in front of him. “Heartless,” he mutters.

What do you do?

[Stay back.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17905436/chapters/42807704)  
[Fight.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17905436/chapters/43254389)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stick with Cloud.

“Follow the light,” you recall quietly. Your head churns with all the information you’ve been given but you manage to look Cloud clear in the eye. “Are you heading there too?” You tilt your head towards the glowing tower.

He nods. “Looks like it.”

“Well, there’s no time like the present, I guess,” you say, moving forward. Cloud follows. Both yours and his footsteps crack on the rocky terrain and it only pronounces how silent everything else is, how alone the two of you are. Though you can see the tower straight ahead, it looks big, and you suspect you actually have a long way to go if you can only travel by foot. Cloud doesn’t look perturbed so you refrain from saying anything about it. Instead, you ask, “Who was that guy? Before.”

He inclines his head. His sword clinks as he walks, keeping pace with you even though you’re sure he wants to go faster. You must look pitiful for him to be this accommodating. 

“Sephiroth,” he says. “Here, he’s a warrior of Chaos. In my home world …” He looks away.

“What is a warrior of Chaos?”

“The champions of the god of discord.” 

You frown. At your silence, Cloud glances over and his lips quirk up. “We were all called here by Cosmos and Chaos. The two gods have been at war since the beginning of time in the name of harmony and discord. They use this world as their arena and those they deem worthy are brought here to fight on their behalf.”

“Fight?” You eye his sword. “Like, actual fighting?”

“What other kind of fighting is there?”

You huff a laugh before you can help it. It hits you now more than ever that you’re having a conversation with a video game character and, though you’ve never played _Final Fantasy_ yourself, you’re pretty sure this is the most you’ve heard Cloud talk.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” you say, half-delirious, half-miserable, “but I’m not much of a fighter.”

He has enough grace to pause and make a show of considering you. “Cosmos must have summoned you here for a reason.”

“It was a mistake. She said so herself.”

He shrugs slightly. “We’ll see what else she has to say soon.”

Proceed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Explore on your own.

“I’m having a nightmare,” you mutter, storming off. You can feel Cloud’s eyes on your back but he doesn’t say anything to stop you from walking away. Besides the ruins you woke up in and the glowing tower you are supposed to report to, there isn’t any sign of a population living here and so nothing to explore, but you don’t want to think of the video game character behind you. You keep walking.

Your feet kick up dirt with every step. In the opposite direction of the tower are huge rocks that make it impossible to see the other side. You don’t know where to go and you must look like a fool to Cloud. Cloud, who you were fine believing was just a bunch of code and pixels up until now. Cloud, whose leather hand felt so real against your mouth, who pinched you.

You groan and bury your face in your hands. You don’t even have your phone on you. How did this happen? What is ‘this’?

Whoever the voice is, how can she make a mistake like this? You are supposed to be lying on your bed, gazing at stars from your nightlight while Lulin cooks up another plan to distract you from housework.

Footsteps make you look up. A brown-haired guy with a fur-lined jacket approaches a passage between two large rocks. Another _Final Fantasy_ character. He isn’t walking in the direction of the tower though.

What do you do?

[Ignore him.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17905436/chapters/47050951)  
Call out to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s your boy. You know who it is.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stay back.

Cloud dashes toward the Heartless and spikes his sword through it. Its body tenses and then it dematerialises, a fine black dust dispersing in its place.

“That’s how you skewer something,” you say. What little adrenaline you had when Cloud drew his sword leaves you. He turns and his eyes dart to something behind you.

Something sharp catches your arm. 

The scratch stings and you hiss through your teeth as Cloud takes care of the second Heartless that had snuck up on you. Its gold, owlish eyes study you before it is slashed away. Cloud takes a moment to scan the area. When he deems it safe, he sheathes his weapon and approaches you.

“You all right?”

“I think so.” You don’t lift your hand from the cut. He notices.

“Show me.”

You scamper away. “It’s fine.”

He follows, managing to grab hold of your elbow. 

“Ow,” you complain pointedly when he pulls your hand off the wound. Blood covers your palm and you watch as a drop trails down your forearm. You are hurt. You actually got hurt. “What …” you trail off, already lightheaded.

Cloud takes a dark handkerchief out of his back pocket and dabs away the blood. He ties it around your arm, blocking your view of the scratch. “Sorry,” he says. “Don’t have a potion on me.”

You blink up at him, eyebrows raised. “You’re a witch?”

He returns the weird look. “No. Potions speed up the healing process.”

“Right.” You shake out your wrist. “Thank you.”

With a nod, Cloud glances at the tower. “Shall we?”

Proceed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fight.

“I’m not heartless,” you protest, reaching for the brick by your feet and throwing it at the creature in front of you. It doesn’t have much of a face but its yellow eyes look stunned as it reels back from the impact. Cloud does too, blinking at you before he surges forward and slashes the creature’s body. It dissipates like smoke but two more take its place, bigger ones.

“I was talking about those things,” Cloud says. “They’re called Heartless.”

“Oh. I don’t have another brick though,” you say. Still, you advance upon one of the Heartless before Cloud can respond and swing your fist at it. Its skin feels like a peach’s, bruising just as easily. As it stumbles back from the blow, you swipe at it with your foot. It goes down into the dirt. Cloud finishes off the Heartless pursuing him and then puts his sword through yours. Again, it dissolves into thin air. The space it once occupied is unnaturally cold so you take a step back, unnerved.

“I thought you said you weren’t a warrior,” Cloud says.

You can’t help but smile a little. 

He tugs his sword out of the earth and slots it into the sheath on his back.

“Looks heavy,” you say. It is a huge sword—bigger than any you have seen on the fantasy shows on TV—but it isn’t the one he’s always featured with in promotional artwork, the one you see on Lulin’s posters. While the shape is similar, this one looks more complicated.

“I’m used to it.” His eyes go over you. “Are you hurt?”

“Nope.”

“Let’s keep going then.”

Proceed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ignore him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am moving to Tokyo for a year so I've been occupied by the bureaucracy of it all. We will be back on track soon. For now, enjoy this update.

You keep walking your own path. You don’t need to deal with another video game character if you can help it. Never mind that you don’t know where you’re going and there doesn’t seem to be anything but rocks for as far as you can see. Only boulders lie in the direction that Stephanie guy was heading. You don’t know if it would be the best idea to follow him anyway. It is hard to tell who is good and who is bad when everyone’s hair and wardrobe would turn heads on Earth either way.

You stop. No. You’re still on Earth. You have to be. There is a reasonable explanation for this. Mass hallucination, for one.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

You whip around.

The man behind you is dressed like a court jester. His face is painted white, his lips overdrawn in purple. Even while hunched, he towers over you. How did you miss him while looking around?

“Oh, goodie,” he says, clapping his hands. “A new toy.”

You inch backwards.

“Aw, don’t be shy.” He reaches out a huge hand and wraps his fingers around your wrist. One tug and you’re stumbling into his chest. He shoves his smiling face at you. “First-timer?”

“Excuse me?” you yell. You stomp on his foot but he isn’t fazed.

“Now, now,” he soothes. “There’s no shame in it. We’ve all been there.”

“Hands off, Kefka.”

He blinks at you. “Please tell me you can talk without moving your mouth.”

You startle when he lets out a pained cry and drops you onto the ground. Rubbing his butt, he turns to glare at the pink-haired woman who is interrupting. You know her from trailers you have seen online; not to mention Lulin bought the game the day it came out and finished it in a weekend. 

Lightning puts away her sword and crosses her arms. “Don’t you have to report to Chaos?”

“Don’t you have to report to Chaos?” he mocks back in a whiny tone. He brushes off his costume, eyeing you. “I guess I’ll just have to catch you later then. Toodle-oo!” He skips away, singing something about death and doom.

Lightning holds out her hand to help you up. Considering she didn’t seem that friendly in _Final Fantasy XIII_ , you’re surprised but you don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth. You take her hand and she pulls you to your feet.

“You okay?” she says as you dust off your clothes.

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“Name’s Lightning.”

You tell her yours.

“You were heading in the wrong direction.”

“I know,” you mumble.

“You can follow me.”

She walks away before you can refute.

Proceed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may have went a bit overboard with Kefka. I'm not sorry.


End file.
